The invention relates to staple removers; and, more particularly, to double jawed staple removers having planar pressing surfaces and staple locking notches.
A wide variety of modern-day businesses utilize staple removers on a daily basis to effect disengagement of staples from stapled articles. Staple removers are also commonly used within the personal residence of the typical consumer. Of the commercially available hand-held staple removers utilized in both business and consumer applications, one of the most common types is the double-jawed staple remover.
The typical double-jawed staple remover is provided with first and second jaws which are pivotally connected for rotation towards one another about a single axis. The first jaw has a first pair of spaced apart walls which move in a plane which is perpendicular to the axis of rotation and which have wedging elements for engaging a staple. The second jaw has a second pair of spaced apart walls which also move in a plane which is perpendicular to the axis of rotation and which also have wedging elements for engaging a staple. The distance between the second pair of walls relative to the first pair of walls is such that, upon rotation of the first and second jaws towards one another into a closed position, the second pair of walls are positioned between the overlap with the first pair of walls.
The first and second jaws of these staple removers are typically provided with finger-receiving ears which are positioned on the outside of the first and second jaws, respectively, substantially adjacent the wedging elements of the first and second pairs of walls. Typically, the pressing surfaces are somewhat angled and indented. This design is intended to fit the thumb and fingers of the user.
To effect removal of a staple from a stapled article, the operator forcibly rotates the first and second jaws towards one another into overlapping positions, usually by applying a thumb to one pressing surface and one or more fingers to the other pressing surface, simultaneously driving the wedging elements of the first and second pair of walls between the staple and the stapled article and thereafter pulling or twisting the double-jawed staple remover so as to disengage the staple from the stapled article. Some staple removers include notches formed within the wedging elements of the upper first jaws in order to more fully grip the staple during removal.
In my U.S. Pat. No. 5,354,033, I addressed the problem where, in heavy duty applications, the operator must often apply substantial forces to the pressing surfaces and may succeed only in partially disengaging the staple from the stapled article. In the course of squeezing, pulling and/or twisting the staple, it is also common for the staple to shear so as to leave a portion of the staple within the stapled article with an exposed tip extending therefrom. Accordingly, the operator of these double-jawed staple removers must locate a pair of pliers or other suitable means for gripping and separating the partially disengaged or sheared staple from the stapled article. This is highly inefficient and results in the loss of valuable time. I thus disclosed in my prior patent a double-jawed staple-remover having a pair of grippers for removing partially disengaged or sheared staples from a stapled article.
I have found that the angled or elevated pressing surfaces generally do not fit the thumb and fingers of the user, causing a nonuniformity of pressure to be applied to the jaws of the staple remover and resulting in uncomfortable pressure points in the fingers and thumb. By flattening the pressing surfaces, the pressure applied is uniform and the staple remover is more comfortable to the user's fingers and thumb. I have also found that increased grip of the staple during removal is achieved by adding staple locking notches in both the first and second jaws. Therefore, what is needed is a double-jawed staple remover having horizontally flat planar pressing surfaces, staple locking notches and gripping elements. The finger pressing surfaces on the side of the gripping elements should be unobtrusive to the function of the gripping elements. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides other related advantages.